Pathetic.
My hand tightens around the glass. I resist the urge to hurl it into the fireplace.
I’m not used to missing anyone like this.
When Gramps died, it was a blow, but it was also natural.
And after his betrayal, it can’t compare to the way I miss her.
It’s a different kind of ache, chewing its way under my skin, and I can’t dig it out.
There’s so much of her imprinted on my life, even though she’s only been part of it for a few months.
Still, breaking it off was the right move.
I couldn’t stand to hurt her as I turned into a berserker, smashing everything I thought I knew like an angry bull.
Hattie Sage doesn’t fit my ruined world.
Not the one where I’m done being some weird, emotional pawn of Gramps.
She doesn’t need to hang around for the wreckage.
No one deserves that.
We both need to get the hell on with our lives, and I need time alone.
Time to figure out my life and what the hell I want to do with it now that everything I thought I knew is a lie.
Keeping Hattie around would only be a distraction.
A bitter reminder of Leonidas Blackthorn’s delusions.
Sighing, I drag another hand through my hair and move over to the small desk.
My laptop is still open from the last time I tried to cobble together some sort of viable business plan.
I have ideas, but it’s refining them that’s the hard part, figuring out which ones might have a real place in the market.
I have tabs of spreadsheets I can’t remember and so many conversations with AI open the bots might as well be talking to each other.
Not a rational way to hash out anything. But you can only mope around getting blasted out of your mind for so long.
I need a fucking future to cut the anchor of the past.
I scan through my options again, the bolder ones that would take me to new places far away from here.
I had an idea for a new platform where people can stream health, cooking, and wellness videos, but it’s not enough to build an entire company around. That would have to be a side project.
What about the high-end rental market?
With that, I’m not starting at ground zero. Plus, I’ve seen a few articles about the meteoric success of the Rory brothers and Higher Ends in the Midwest.
They’ve done well for themselves, pushing through a whole heap of drama.
Could I do something similar in Upstate New York or New England?
Niche markets for luxury vacation properties are everywhere.
